An Englishman of forty years residence in Wales pontificates about politics (slightly off-message), films and trivia. Secretary of Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats. Candidate for Neath in the Westminster elections of 1997 & 2017 and the Welsh general election of 2016.

Monday, 11 February 2008

Decentralisation

As Nick Clegg said in his interview on the BBC yesterday:

If you are serious about decentralisation, you've got to put your money where your mouth is. There is no system of governance which is truly decentralised, truly devolved, truly localised anywhere I know of, which doesn't put its money where its mouth is - and that's why I think it is so important to realise that it's only the Liberal Democrats who are prepared to scrap council tax, give local communities more say about how they raise money and how they spend it. Both the Labour and the Conservative Parties talk the talk of devolution, de-centralisation, and don't deliver it.

Some of us remember Mrs Thatcher being very vocal in support of "town hall, not Whitehall", when she was in opposition. It was a very different story when the Conservatives came to power, and imposed oppressive measures on local authorities which have been maintained by New Labour.